Supported by Alumni and Friends: Hacksmiths, Code & Craft

Throughout the year, generous donations from alumni and friends help to fund a diverse range of activities that support the student experience and benefit the Goldsmiths community. In a new series of blog posts, we will share a selection of projects that demonstrate the difference these projects make at the College.

Founded in 2014, Hacksmiths is the award-winning student-run Tech Society at Goldsmiths.

Its mission is to provide an opportunity for people across Goldsmiths and from all backgrounds to learn about technology and to experience it via play. Hacksmiths organises talks, workshops and hackathons (invention marathons that often run overnight).

Code & Craft is a weekly workshop Hacksmiths delivers to support the Goldsmiths community to work on their tech projects or to learn new skills and ask for help from their peers. Code & Craft is aimed at Goldsmiths students regardless of their abilities, background or circumstances.

With support from alumni and friends, Hacksmiths was able to take Code & Craft into the local community with the aim of fostering a community of makers within the local area.

Members of Hacksmiths also visited local schools, community centres and employment centres, inviting those they met to take part in free weekly Code & Craft sessions so that they could continue to build their skills, create interesting projects and, ultimately, be an active part of the wider Goldsmiths community. More than 90 people took up the offer and 29 took part in Code & Craft on more than one occasion.

Additional funding also helped Hacksmiths to develop their hardware lab, which is now full of electronics and other equipment for learning and play. For some of those attending the workshops, it might be their only way of accessing this type of equipment. This underpins the Society’s commitment to inclusivity and the principle that knowledge and skills should be available to all.

Former Hacksmiths President, Kevin Lewis, said: “Thank you for allowing us to provide crucial tech skills to the local community, and give them access to technologies that may otherwise be prohibitive.”